The Natural History of the Varieties of ManLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Science
The Natural History of the Varieties of Man
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Ethnology
According to Mr. Hales their numbers are about 400; they are great
hunters, furnishing much peltry, and in appearance and character
resembling the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains rather than those of
the Oregon.
These accounts agree; whilst the evidence of language as known from the
vocabularies of the American Exploring Expedition, and a MS. vocabulary
of Mr. Howse's disconnect them from the tribes around them.
In physical appearance they are _contrasted_ by Simpson with the Salish
Ponderays. These last struck him with the stateliness of their manners;
and so much did they show to advantage, that he considered them as the
finest-looking men he had seen, next to the Indians of the plains.
CHINÚKS (TSHINÚK).
_Locality._--Mouth of the Columbia.
_Divisions._--1. Chinúks Proper, on the southern bank of the
Columbia, at its mouth. 2. Klatsops, at Point Adams, south of
the Chinúks. 3. Kathlamut, on the south bank of the Columbia,
above the Chinúks. 4. Wakáikam. 5. Watlala, or Upper Chinúk,
farthest up the river. 6. Nihaloitih.
_Physical Appearance._--"The personal appearances of the
Chinook differs so much from that of the aboriginal tribes of
the United States, that it was difficult at first to recognise
the affinity. Taking them collectively, they are even inferior
in stature to the tribes of Interior Oregon; the general form
is shorter and more squat, and the face is rounder and broader
when viewed in front. Instances occurred of a fairness of
complexion, which I have not seen in other parts of aboriginal
America; and in young children, the colour was often not
strikingly deeper than among Europeans.
"The oblique eye I have scarcely noticed in other parts of
America; nor such frequent difficulty in distinguishing men
from women, whether in youth or age. The arched nose, was,
however, very prevalent among the Chinooks. The beard was
not always absolutely wanting, but it occasionally attained
the length of an inch or more. One man had both beard and
whiskers, quite thin, but full two inches long; and in other
respects he much resembled some representations I have seen
of the Esquimaux." * * * "The head is artificially flattened
in infancy; _but as the children grow up, the cranium tends
to resume its natural shape, so that the majority of grown
persons hardly manifest the existence of the practice._ One
effect, however, seemed to be permanently distinguishable, in
the unusual breadth of the face."--Pickering, p. 27.
We have already, in speaking of the Salish, met with the word
_Flat-head_, and, although in that particular case, it was misapplied,
it is still an important term in American ethnology, since more than
one family of American Indians has the practice of _artificially
flattening the head_. This we meet with, for the first time, amongst
the Tshinúks, the true _Flat-heads_ of those parts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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